patriots day is every year boston's greatest day of celebration. this morning the city is tending to its injured and at least three families mourning the death of a loved one, including 8-year-old martin richard, killed near the finish line just after congratulating his father. matt and lester are up in boston this morning with the very latest. guys, good morning. >> hey, guys. good morning to you as well. it is a bit of a surreal morning here in boston. patriots day as you just mentioned, willie, is always a day of celebration around here. the day after you usually see runners, some limping around nursing sore knees and ankles after completing 26.2 miles. today, though, you see a lot of runners coming here to boyleston street about four or five blocks away from what was supposed to be a joyous finish line. instead they're here with their cameras and they're taking pictures of what is now a crime scene behind us. we know overnight a few developments police did carry out a search warrant in rivere,

massachuset massachusetts, about ten miles from here. questioning some people. they won't label them as suspects. >> they won't. they questioned a couple of men. took materials out of this apartment. not calling them smts. we have to know there are going to be so many leads they're going to be following up on right now. they're going to be checking surveillance cameras. it's a busy downtown area. 2013, there's a camera every year. we know now there were two explosive devices. you may recall in the hours and even up rough last night there were reports of unexploded bombs. that's because there were so many suspicious devices or things they didn't know about that they just disrupted. >> that's right. if you've been to a marathon, whether it's here in boston or elsewhere, you know that almost everybody here, whether they're a runner or a family member supporting a runner is carrying a backpack or a bag with a change of clothes, a heavier jacket. >> two backpacks. >> exactly right. when you think that you've got hundreds of thousands of people along the running route and at the finish line, tens of thousands of people and so many carrying a backpack or another kind of a bag, it's easy to understand why security would be

almost impossible in terms of screening out someone who might have an explosive device. >> going to be very difficult as to what and who looks suspicious. i also want to tell you about the injured right now. numbers are varying. we're hearing about 126 people still ohospitalized. a number of them are critical. i spoke to a doctor last night who said a lot of the damage was lower expremty. these bombs apparently had bbs. >> a lot of the injuries we've been talking about over the last 12 to 18 hours, lower extremities. these bombs may have been placed on the sidewalk or in trash cans. some indication maybe in a mailbox. we're going to have much more ahead from here. we've been talking to some doctors and emergency rooms throughout the morning. one of the great sources of pride for the city of boston is their hospital system here. they have six area hospitals that have been treating the wounded or the injured. and they are some of the best hospitals in the country and the world. as we mentioned, the injuries

really range from bumps, bruises, cuts to amputations of limbs from what we're hearing. >> the youngest of the three dead, and 8-year-old we know. i want to add one other item. i talked to a race official who said before the race -- this is something we've become used to post-9/11. police dogs went through. they sniffed. they looked for bombs and explosive things. mainly in the computer areas where the officials were. so it was on everyone's mind as everything is these days. >> it's hard to tell whether these devices were planted long in advance of the race or dropped there during the actual race itself. keep in mind, everybody in that finish line area, willie, they're all looking at the street. they're trying to crane their neck to catch a glimpse of a family member or a loved one going by. probably not paying an awful lot of attention to what might have been going on on that sidewalk alongside them or behind them. back to you guys. >> all right, matt and lester, thanks so much. matt and savannah will be back with more at 9:30 with the latest on the investigation in a

live press conference from boston. the guys referenced the lower extremity injuries. we saw so many of those. there's a piece up "the boston globe," one 33, one 31. both of whom lost a leg. >> the mother got the phone call from the one son. >> from the ambulance. said, ma, i'm hurt real bad. same injury. two brothers, same injury. there to watch your buddy run. >> our hearts go out to their family and all the families suffering right now. such tragedy. let's check out some of the other stories making news this morning. >> a big story we're following out of iran this morning. a major earthquake has struck iran near the border with pakistan. iranian tv says dozens of people have been killed there. the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.8. it was felt across the middle east and as far away as new delhi, india, where panicked people ran into the streets. this comes less than a week after a quake in iran killed at least 37 people. a hard landing for a marine

ch-53e super stallion helicopter near seoul, south korea. all 21 people on board survived the incident. six of them remain in the hospital in stable condition. the senate is set to take up the gun control debate today as republicans and democrats face off over the issue of background checks for people purchasing weapons. a vote could be delayed until later this week as both sides seek more time to rally support. a bipartisan senate group filed sweeping legislation to overhaul the nation's immigration system today in what is said to be a landmark of president obama's second term agenda. the bipartisan effort would create legal avenues for international workers to come to the u.s. and put the 11 million immigrants currently living here illegally on a 13-year path to citizenship. you're up to date now on some of the other headlines of the day. six minutes after the hour. >> thanks.

al, a check of the weather. >> a busy weather day as well. we've got a snowstorm to talk about and severe weather back through wyoming. we're talking about anywhere from six to nine inches of snow over the next 24 hours. ahead of this system where we've got all this snow, we've got warm air meeting cold air. where that happens, we've got the risk of strong storms from abilene, texas, on up into municipal of missouri, into central ohio and down into alabama with the chance of tornadoes. and tomorrow an even stronger risk for much of central oklahoma. >> good morning. it will be a little bit warmer than yesterday. today we will be in the upper 60's and the low 70's.

that's your latest weather. willie? >> msnbc contributor mike barnicle is a native of the boston area and long time journalist there who knows the city just about as well as anybody you would ever meet. mike, good morning. >> good morning, willie. >> if my math is right you wrote your first column for "the boston globe" in 1973, 40 years ago. you've been taking the pulse of that city for decades. bha what's the pulse like this morning? >> well, it's a somber pulse today, willie. but there is a pulse. it's vibrating throughout the city. and hopefully throughout the country. and it's the pulse of people who were knocked to their knees yesterday by these explosions that occurred on boyleston street, five blocks up from where i'm standing right now. but as we said earlier today, people got up this morning. the sun rose. they went to work. the city is alive. most of it.

people are resilient here. the spirit is getting stronger here. yesterday was an example of people helping people, complete strangers helping other strangers. so onward. that's -- that's the word of the day here, willie, onward. >> there seems to be a theme i'm hearing this morning. i heard it from my own wife last night who lived in boston for a long time, that this feels like a personal attack. maybe people who don't live in boston can't understand what that means exactly. how special patriots day is. it's a day they go watch their baseball team in boston. it's a day they go watch their neighbors run in the marathon. they celebrate that city. can you explain for people across the country what patriots day means to boston? >> patriots day for years has meant the start of spring in a sense. it's unusual in that you have -- the only major league baseball game played in the morning starts in boston at 11:00 a.m. on patriots day, which is a statewide holiday. the marathon begins 26 miles

from boston in hopkinton, massachusetts. all along the marathon route, along boston college, up heartbreak hill, down commonwealth avenue into the city itself and then to boyleston street and the finish line you have hundreds of thousands of people offering help and assistance. cups of waters. an orange slice to runners, complete strangers from around the world and around the country. of course, the joyous moments occur at the finish line. not for those world-class runners, but for people who run for a cause. your neighbors. people you know. people who are running on behalf of someone who has passed away. running on behalf of the jimmy fund, the cancer fund, research fund here in boston. running for aids awareness. any number of causes. and when this event occurred yesterday, it is because of the communal spirit that inspires so much of patriots day and the marathon, this was as if someone came into your living room and attacked you in your home. that's the feeling. that's the sense of the crowd.

it's obviously a day off from school for hundreds of thousands of children all along the parade route. this was an attack on family. a family of strangers brought together by the community that -- that inspires this one event and has for years. >> and so far one of the great sources of that pain that you're talking about, mike, has been the death of 8-year-old martin richard. the account of the story goes in "the boston globe" this morning that he was at the finish line with his mother, his sisters. he went out to congratulate his father and give him a hug as his father came to the finish line. they separated. his father went and finished the race. martin stepped back on to the curb and died instantly. can you talk about what his death means in all of this? >> yeah, well, you know, the death of any child shatters us all. there is one correction to that story. that's since been added to that story. martin's dad who is a runner was not running in the marathon yesterday. he was with his family at the

finish line. as with so many of the kids who line up along the finish line, they have the police gates, the rails that you see behind me over here. and martin and a couple of other youngsters were gathered up on the rail right at the site of one of the explosions. martin lost his life, 8 years of age, obviously. we've reported that over and over. but the -- the sadness that comes with the death of an 8-year-old, you can magnify it by also thinking about the sadness that comes with all of the other 8-year-olds, 9-year-olds, 10-year-olds, children who now have a freeze frame in their minds, who were there yesterday, of the sights and sounds of the explosions that took place around them. of the blood letting that went on. but they also have and will have a memory of strangers rushing to help strangers. i spoke to a couple of eyewitnesses yesterday. one of them young lawyer andrew

kettlewall was his name. he was there at the finish line as were so many others waiting for his friend, his girlfriend to complete the marathon. he was standing right there in front of the lord & taylor department store on boyleston street. about 75 yards to his right, the first explosion took place. and then instantly within 15 to 20 seconds, the second explosion took place across the street from where he was, 25 yards up. this is a two-block area. with -- with hundred of thousands of people. many of them youngsters, younger than obviously 26 or 27 as andrew kettlewall's age is. they will have a freeze frame in their mind of people rushing to apply tourniquets to the wounded. complete strangers. not medical personnel to begin with. complete strangers helping strangers. they will have a freeze frame in their mind of one young man jumping on two children and their mom to protect them from,

perhaps, a third explosion that n never occurred. this is the memory they will have. of people helping people, people coming together in a time of incredible trouble and violence. that's the spirit of this city. that's the spirit of this country. we will go on. >> you're right, mike. there was some evil yesterday, but there was a lot more good up in boston. thanks so much, mike barnicle, for your perspective this morning. >> you're welcome. coming up next, eyewitnesses share their firsthand accounts of the boston marathon bombing as it happened. that's right after this. ♪ [ elevator bell dings ] ♪ wow. ♪ what? ♪ mmm. it looks delicious! i didn't work out this morning. i should try it? yeah. actually pretty tasty. sausage, egg and cheese. mmm! this is from special k? no way! that changes things. [ female announcer ] new special k flatbread breakfast sandwiches. with multi-grain flatbread, eggs, sausage, and cheese. it's only 240 calories. if you guys can come back tomorrow, it'd be fantastic. [ female announcer ] a breakfast revelation. what will you gain when you lose?

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okay. >> good morning. >> great to be here. >> stan, i know you had just finished the race minutes before the explosions. you were actually in the medical tent. can you describe for me what you heard and what was your reaction? >> i was there in the medical tent. all of a sudden this loud reverberating, guttural boom. it just shook you right to your core. we stood up and looked around, said what's going on. the nurse people were looking at us. we said, what was that? we went over to the edge and looked out. then another one went off just immediately thereafter. we thought it was a bomb. we have to get out of here. i took off, headed out. figured i needed to make room for some real victims. took off down the street. and the police were all running towards the incident. and we were running away. i thought best thing to do is just get out of here. i climbed up over a fence and went down a side street and was really worried about my family. because i knew they had been

right where the bomb had been. >> mike, where exactly were you, mike, from where the explosions were set off? >> yeah. we were actually at the corner of dartmouth and boyleston. about 100 feet past the finish line. we were just waiting for stan to finish up, hopefully reconnect with him. i was actually facing the finish line, watching the runners come through. that's when i felt the first boom. basically a big cloud of smoke. about ten seconds later the second boom. that's whenever we took off. >> connie, i imagine for you there was some real moments of fear and not knowing because nobody at that time knew where the other one was. how long were you out of touch with each other until you finally were able to get ahold of stan? >> probably about ten minutes. we had no cell service. finally we started texting and realized that was our best way to get ahold of him. >> julia, i know you have two

young children. fortunately, they were not there at the finish line and were safely home with some friends. but i know you probably saw a lot of children there who were cheering their fathers or their grandfathers along. can you tell me what you saw in that moment of chaos? >> yeah. we were with our friends with their 9-month-old baby. as soon as we saw the bomb, we just told them to run with their baby. i was so worried. there were kids everywhere crying. i was so grateful my kids weren't there. >> stan, i know you said you had to steel yourself in order not to go to piece. sadly i know you have seen a lot and you've had to endure a lot. i imagine you're going to be very emotional and it's certainly going to be hard on you for the coming days. but i know you want to say a lot of gratitude goes to those first responders and to those medics and everyone who ran to the scene. >> it was really, truly the most

amazing part about it. as we were all trying to get away, the police and others are yelling for us to get away, the police are running, charging down the street to help. and there's sirens everywhere and a lot of the volunteers went to help. it was truly amazing to see. these guys were -- were really heroes. i was totally impressed. >> well, we are so grateful, once again, you're all doing okay. we wish all the best for you and your family. stan and connie, rick, julia and mike nixon, thank you all. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back after this. what makes your family smile?

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>> good morning, everyone. it should turn out to be a pretty nice day today. this afternoon expect a mixture of clouds and sunshine. high temperatures in the upper 60's, most of nepos. about average for this time of year. the best chance for rain this week will come in friday night and sa

some of the difficult and now indelible images from the boston marathon bombings yesterday. trained first responders rushing toward the scene, but also so many brave civilians doing the same, acting on instinct. here in new york, i'm willie geist along with al roker and natalie morales. coming up, a firsthand account from someone who was just 150 feet from those explosions. >> also, a woman who was running the race describes the confusion in the moments right after those

bombs went off. >> and one of the three dead, sadly an 8-year-old boy. it makes our children feel so much more vulnerable. we've all been talking about this. how do we talk to our kids about this tragedy? >> it's a difficult question yesterday. everywhere you looked, your kids were running through the house. you want information. how do you handle that? >> my kids sadly saw a lot that they probably shouldn't have seen before i was like, okay, stop. when your job is to cover and to watch, the tv is on. they were just coming home from school. >> we're going to get into all that in just a few minutes. first al has a look at the weather. >> as we take a look first of all for today we've got a risk of strong storms stretching from oklahoma all the way into ohio. we've got heavy snow back throughout much of wyoming. heavy surf advisories and windy conditions in central and southern california. rain moves into the northeast later today. for tomorrow look for sunny and cool conditions in new england. sunny and warm through the gulf coast. risk of strong storms from texas all the way into illinois. a lot more snow back through the central plains. some afternoon showers moving

into the pacific northwest. dunny and mild from the >> good morning. today should turn out to be a nice day. a mixture of sun and clouds. alicia lane is an anchor at knbc, nbc station in los angeles. she was near the finish line cheering on a friend when those explosions went off. good morning. >> good morning to you. >> you hear these explosions. what happens next? what did you do? >> we were inside of a

restaurant at the lennox hotel which is right there at the corner of boyleston and exeter. 100, 150 feet from the spectator and finish line. we were having lunch, waiting for my best friend who had run the marathon to have lunch with us. she had already passed through. the massive explosion takes place. we can feel it beneath us. the table is shaking. everything on the table is shaking. ten seconds later another explosion goes off. at that point, panic just struck the entire restaurant inside of that hotel. we all moved back toward the back of the restaurant in order to stay away from blasts, any glass that might shatter. everyone was terrified, myself included, not knowing if that was the only bomb, if that was the only bombs, if there were more to come. boston police then came inside a little bit later, few minutes later p told us to turn off all of our cell phone devices to make sure we wouldn't detonate any additional devices that might be out there. shortly thereafter, we were ushered out of the hotel and we

were evacuated and have since not been able to return. i've just recently been told we can get back in to get our belongings. the entire area is considered a crime scene. no one who was in any of those hotels will be able to stay at those hotels. i want to show you the covers of the newspapers here this morning in boston. "the boston herald." terror at the finish line. graphic photos, heart brenchiwr photos. "the boston globe," i'm not going to unfold, quite gruesome of a woman who was injured there. a really harrowing ordeal. we finally did find my best friend. luckily she was safe. this morning it was really about processing what had taken place. natalie, i know natalie is a runner. she's a marathoner. she knows what it's like to win one of these. it's a huge achievement. especially for the boston marathon which is one of the most competitive marathons. and this morning we awakened in our hotel room.

this was beside her on the night stand. she was doubled over in tears. really inconsolable. she couldn't realize, wrap her head around what had happened. how fortunate she felt and how fortunate we all felt for surviving this. and our hearts going out to those who were injured and the people who were killed. it was just such a terrifying experience. i think i probably haven't had time to process it yet. she is this morning. and it's certainly a difficult day. >> all right. alycia lane from our sister station in los angeles, knbc. thank you so much. glad you're okay. still ahead, one of the marathon runners describes the chaos and confusion as the bombs go off right after these messages. do hot or cold foods ever cause you tooth discomfort? now there's a sensodyne toothpaste that can actually repair sensitive teeth and help relieve pain. new sensodyne repair and protect. with twice daily brushing, its clinically proven ingredients

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in a suburb of boston called revere, that's about ten miles from here. they're only telling us that that investigation and that search warrant was related to the investigation. i want to mention i'm joined by lester holt here in boston, we're on boylston street, about five blocks from the finish line of the marathon. the news conference will be held this morning at the westin hotel, not far from where we are. it will be a crowded room with members of the media from boston, across the country, and around the world, of course, people here covering this event and runners from their countries. it will be crowded in terms of officials as well. lester we're hearing as many as nine local officials and federal officials will be addressing the press. >> fbi is taking the lead in this investigation, what we've been told they are starting from square one. there was nothing intelligence wise on the radar and we should note that the mayor is in a wheelchair. >> thomas menino broke a leg at an event saturday. we're expecting to hear from richard deloriere, the governor

there and the u.s. attorney carmen ortiz. >> everyone, thank you for coming. less than 24 hours after yesterday's act of terror, we wanted to organize a briefing for you with the information that we have. the mayor is here. the members of our congressional delegations, all of the law enforcement leadership, several people who want to present to you this morning and take your questions. couple points i want to mention at the outset. i told you yesterday that the fbi has taken charge of the investigation, special agent in charge rick deloriere will speak. it is important to clarify two and only two explosive devices

were found yesterday. other parcels, all other parcels in the area of the blast have been examined but they are, there were unexploded bombs or devices found. over 150 people were injured yesterday in the blasts, some gravely. our thoughts go out to all of those injured and killed and to their families and friends. i personally want to thank the extraordinary first responders for their, just extraordinary work yesterday. every single one of them, those who were on site and those who got to the site promptly thereafter performed beautifully as have the area hospitals. i've been calling around to the heads of the hospitals personally to thank them as well. it's our hope that tomorrow, we will organ interfaith prayer service to help our community heal. we don't have details o s on th

yet but we will when we have them. there is a support center that was opened yesterday in what we call the castle, opposite the park plaza hotel on arlington and stuart street i think it is. the mayor has provided staff to help people cope with this extraordinary event, and it will be open from 9:00 i think until 5:00 or beyond this evening. finally, everyone should expect continued heightened police presence and everyone should continue personally to be vigilant. the investigation continues, and until it is done, all of those in law enforcement represented by the leaders here will be present in force in the area around the blast and throughout the city, and with that let me turn it over to mayor menino. >> thank you, governor. yesterday terror was brought to the city of boston.

agedy was brought to one of our neighborhoods also. this is a close-knit place, the city of boston. here we know our neighbors, we grieve for them. we grieve for the little boy who we knew from dorchester. also today i want to say we know our heroes also. they're the men and women who wear helmets, who wear the badges, the runners who helped us yesterday during this time of need and as we go together on this issue with all the law enforcement officials, we're going to make sure the city pulls together. we got it under control. let's continue to work together, let's keep offering a helping hand to individuals who may need it in this very difficult time in our city's history. i just say to all of you i've been mayor for over 20 years now i've never seen law enforcement pulling together, working together to solve our crime in our city as they have but also how people pulled together, the business community, the neighbors, everyone. this is a tragedy but boston is

a strong city. we're a city that will get through this and like the governor said, we set up a resource center over at the castle, near the park plaza hotel, where staff will be there available to give information to individuals who have been involved in the marathon, it's open from 9:00 to 5:00 and the phone number is, 635-5040 i believe and our hotline -- no the number, wrong number, 617-534-5050, and also the 24-hour hotline that you need information also, that number is 617-635-4500. over the last several hours we received calls from all over the world asking us for information about our tragedy and how they could help us, so this is a bad day for boston, but i think if we pull together we'll get through it. we're strong so a lot of people are willing to work together to make this a better place for all

our people. as we gather with our officials let's say boston will overcome. >> thank you, mr. mayor. senator? >> thank you. thank you, governor and thank you, mr. mayor. the president of the united states has pledged his full support in all efforts both to keep the city safe and to find the person who did this and bring them to justice. we did not have to reach out to the president. the president reached out to us. he called the governor. he called the mayor. he called the members of the delegation, because the president is actively involved here in responding. on behalf of our congressional delegation, senator cowan and congressman lynch and all of the members of our delegation, we extend our thanks to the first responders, to the firefighters, to the police officers, to the ems, to everyone on the scene, including the volunteers who came and helped those in trouble and helped save lives.

we also want to thank those from all around the country and all around the world whose prayers and thoughts and offers of help have poured in. we are deeply grateful, as the mayor says, boston will survive. >> thank you, governor. good morning, my name is rick deloriere, special agent in charge of the fbi's boston division. i'd like to start by thanking the first responders from boston ems and boston fire department and the volunteer physicians, nurses and medical staff from the community who volunteered at the marathon. their services and heroic actions saved lives yesterday afternoon. we continue to work shoulder to shoulder with our jttf partnerless at the boston police department, the massachusetts state police, as well as all our other jttf agencies. our mission is clear, to bring to justice those responsible for the marathon bombing. the american public wants answers, the city and the

commonwealth of massachusetts wants answers. this group of dedicated men and women standing before you today pledge to do everything possible to get those answers. this remains a very active investigation, our ongoing investigation in various locations throughout the area goes on. however, there are no known additional threats. we continue to interview various witnesses and process the crime scene, which could take some time. the citizens of massachusetts and the city of boston should expect to see the fbi and its jttf partners conducting activity in the greater eastern massachusetts and boston area. assistance from the public remains critical in establishing a time line of events which leads to swift conclusion through due diligence and strong investigative activity. we commend the public, we commend the citizens of boston and the citizens of the commonwealth of massachusetts for the information that has been provided to law enforcement so far and we strongly encourage that assistance to continue.

it is paramount to explain the fbi and our jttf to a greater extent. the volume of tips we've received and reiterating the sources we've supplied. we've received voluminous tips since the last 18 hours since the incident. we staffed our 1-800-call-fbi. we have response team sources from old field offices to boston, they are on site working as we speak, processing evidence at the crime scene. to the extent that the crime scene still plays in copley perimeter and continues to be a crime scene it may be that for several days. the fbi jttf is logically following up on a variety of leads. you will see us and our law enforcement partners interviewing, maybe a neighbor, co-worker or even yourself in coming days. we encourage you to please cooperate with law enforcement authorities. the resources of the f and the jttf allow for swift action which will hopefully yield quick

results but that does not diminish our diligence and persistence in combing through the high volume of evidence and leads that we are processing right now. we are just beginning upon that path. thank you very much. >> i'm gene marquez, acting special agent in charge atf boston field division. at that time atf has done a partial national response team activation, we're bringing our explosive specialists to the scene and we'll be working jointly with the fbi and its partners on the jttf. we have certified explosive specialists. we have explosives enforcement officers, we have special agent bomb techs and we have k-9s trained to detect any explosive devices or residue. at this time we have approximately 30 forensic specialists en route or on the scene and to dispel any rumors, there were rumors floating

around there were seven devices, up to seven devices at one point. that is not true. i think that happened as a result of some suspect packages that were disrupted, but we only have two devices that we're aware of and both of those devices were the ones that involved and did the damage and were involved in the explosive incidents. at this time we are looking for the public's cooperation, we're looking if there's any video, any photographic evidence, if you can, please, contact the fbi hotline or the city's hotline, we'd like to review any kind of media that you have out there that might give us additional investigative leads and we are pursuing those investigative leads at this time. the scene is going to take several days to process and we just ask for your patience as we're working in that area and for your cooperation. >> good morning. i'm united states attorney

carmen ortiz. first i want to extend my condolences to the families of the loved ones who were lost in yesterday's attack on the city of boston, as well as those that were hurt and still fighting for their lives. our thoughts and our prayers go out to them. what happened yesterday was a terrible tragedy, yet it was amazing to see as you have heard from my colleagues here how people just helped one another, ran toured the blast just to assist another person in greater need. people who were just there for those that were hurt, and in a dire situation. it was amazing to see how the city of boston, and people from around the world, that were part of yesterday's boston marathon, helped one another, consoled each other. there are so many moving parts to an investigation such as this, and i can't begin to thank everyone who has been involved,

law enforcement, medical professionals, emergency responders, and really just regular citizens who became heroes yesterday. i want to repeat as i did state it yesterday, this is an active and ongoing investigation but rest assured that we are bringing all of the necessary resources to assist in this matter, and that we will conduct all that we can with all of our law enforcement partners. i've been in touch with the attorney general several times, eric holder, and he has pledged all the resource from the department and others on behalf of the federal government to help boston recover from yesterday. i ask for your patience and your understanding as we continue to pursue leads, to gather evidence and to get to the bottom of who did this and why. thank you. >> good morning, my name is ed

dave i have hadson, police commissioner for the city of boston. we are in the process of securing and processing the most complex crime scene we've dealt with in the history of our department. we are doing that under the direction of the fbi and in partnership with the atf. we secured the perimeter with members of the national guard and the general is here. i'd like to thank the people who are working closely with us. we received offers of assistance from chicago, los angeles, units have responded here from new york city and baltimore, and we are working closely with all of our partners on this complex investigation. i want to stress that the area around the crime scene which was yesterday was 15 blocks has been reduced to about 12 blocks at this point in time, and we will continue to collapse that crime scene as the facts and circumstances make that available. we want to open up as many streets and get people into their buildings as quickly as we

can. we're working diligently on that but, please, be patient with us in the time that we need to process the crime scene. we expect that scene will go for another two days anyway and people should make appropriate plans. again, i want to stress that any information that you have, any videos or photographs that happened, not just at that scene but anywhere in the immediate vicinity could be helpful to this investigation. our focus is on processing that evidence right now and we're looking forward to working with our partners to bring the individuals who are responsible for this heinous crime to justice, thank you. >> thank you, commissioner. colonel? >> good morning, my name is timothy albin, superintendent of the massachusetts state police. as i said earlier in one of our briefings, there's really two or three parts to this investigation. there's the investigative part, which clearly the fbi has taken the lead on but there's also a

logistical and presence component of this, so i'm speaking to the public, you are going to see an enhanced presence from the boston police, from the state police, from the national guard and from our law enforcement partners through the metropolitan boston area over the next days and probably longer. that's not for any particular reason other than to provide some comfort and, to the public, who are using transportation centers or going about their business. so we are engaged with the mbta police and the t. you will see more troopers. you'll see national guardsmen there, you'll see mbta police like you do every day but that presence will be significantly enhanced. we're doing that for the comfort of the public. we're looking for cooperation from the public. it's not to inconvenience anyone and we don't think that it will be. you might also see an enhanced presence at logan airport as well. that's not for any particular

reason, again, other than to solicit cooperation from the public and seek out tips or information. the last thing i want to say is there have to be hundreds if not thousands of photographs or videos or observations that were made down at that finish line yesterday and they're sitting out there amongst everyone that's watching this event this morning. and i would encourage you to bring forward anything, you might not think it's significant but it might have some value to this investigation. the mayor has given you tip lines, there are plenty of those, the fbi has them as well, if you call in, a sure you that someone will follow up on your photographs or videos that you want to submit for consideration. thank you very much. >> good morning, my name is daniel conley, i'm the district attorney in boston. what occurred yesterday in boston was an act of cowardice.

while there will be an opportunity to officially define this act make no mistake an act of cowardice and this severity cannot be justified and explained. it can only be answered. to that end, some of the finest investigators at the local, state and federal levels have been working through the night to not only conduct interviews and process the scene, but to ensure that those interviews are legally sound and that the evidence is recovered with the greatest care. at the same time, police and other law enforcement agencies have been actively working to ensure the safety of our city. at this point, the loss that we have suffered is enormous, but thanks to the efforts of emts, police officers, firefighters, volunteers, ordinary citizens and of course doctors, nurses and the medical staff at boston's world class hospitals, we can say with absolute

certainty that more lives were saved. for this, we can all give thanks. in the days and the weeks to come, we will do our very best to keep the public and the media apprised and advised ofhe progress of this investigation and our work. it is important, however, for the sake of the victims, and of this city that our investigators be given the room to do their jobs so that the truth can be found and so that justice can be served. moments like this and our response to them define who we are. in the past 24 hours, this city of boston has shown its strength, its compassion and its determination to see justice done. >> thank you, dan. we're happy to take questions. we are going to try to take as many questions as you have, so maybe we'll just go from side to side, if that's --

[ inaudible question from reporter ] >> more than the evidence is the cooperation among the law enforcement agencies as the mayor and others have said at the federal, state and local level, and indeed from the region. we have an unprecedented level of law enforcement support and engagement here and -- >> we are going to break away from this press conference for a moment to allow more stations to join us, while others will be leaving us. you're watching special "today" show coverage of the boston marathon bombing, you're watching officials at the westin hotel here in boston update the press on where the investigation stands right now. we have been listening in and you've been hearing from the governor of massachusetts, deval patrick, from the mayor of boston, thomas menino, the fbi